Everyone but Fox and the Taliban Applaud Obama’s Peace Prize

No sooner was it announced that Barack Obama won the 2009 Peace Prize, than I heard from Ann Aurelius. An old friend from high school back in Minneapolis, Ann is as Norwegian as Lutefisk and pancake suppers in a Lutheran church basement during a cold Minnesota winter. When Garrison Keillor talks about the people of Lake Woebegon, he’s talking about Ann.

“Cheeky Norwegians! Good for them!” Ann enthused in an early morning e-mail shortly after getting word. “The world needs shaking up! I think they realize that his fight for justice (including) universal health care is as much about world peace as ending wars and conflicts. Even beer in the Rose Garden to smooth out racial issues. Sometimes, it’s not about the big things but an entire attitude.”

The head of the Nobel Committee didn’t say it any better.

Except for the lowlanders at Fox and the Taliban’s official spokesman, most of the world is applauding the move in Oslo. Beyond the usual tributes from Obama’s fellow heads-of-state, a think piece that appears in The Independent explains why he may have won.

The Independent observes “… the Nobel prize has a long history of being awarded more for the committee’s aspirations than for others’ accomplishments … The prize is awarded to encourage those who receive it to see the effort through, sometimes at critical moments … The Nobel committee has the audacity to hope that he’ll produce a record worthy of its prize.”

Agence France Presse is considerably less inhibited, saying the president “sensationally won the Nobel Peace Prize …” And across the Channel, Peter Beaumont of The Guardian wrote what is on the minds of many today, noting that perhaps the prize was “awarded to Barack Obama for what he is not: For not being George W. Bush.”

And over at the Grande Dame of broadcasting, Paul Reynolds of BBCNews.com writes, “The citation indicates that it is President Obama’s world view that attracted the Nobel committee – that diplomacy should be founded ‘on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.’”

The Livid Right
I wonder if Fox News, The National Review and RedState.com are happy that they have something in common with the Taliban: Each blasted Obama receiving the Nobel Prize as soon as the award was announced.

In fact, because of the time difference between Afghanistan, Norway and New York, the Taliban may have scooped Fox this morning.

Under the headline “Becoming Jimmy Carter Faster Than Jimmy Carter,” RedState’s Erick Ericksonwhined “I did not realize the Nobel Peace Prize had an affirmative action quota … but that is the only thing I can think of for this news …” Apparently not knowing anything about the peace prize, including how or why it is awarded, Erickson is saying the only reason a black president could win the accolade is because he is black. And the right wonders why progressives brand so many of them racist when they write or talk about the president.

Not surprisingly, Fox has the wildest ideas.

Crazy Foxes Tommy De Seno, writing at FoxNews.com, is no more informed of the process than Erickson. He carefully catalogues Obama’s first 12 days in office – that’s when the nomination period ended – and other than “skipping church” three times and “release federal funding to pay for abortions in foreign countries,” Obama did nothing. De Seno brushes off ending torture as “re-affirmed Army Field Manual techniques for interrogations” and “expressed desire to close Gitmo” as mere trifled.

Hey, Tommy: The nominations may have closed February 1 but that doesn’t mean the Nobel Committee tosses all of the names in a hat and draws out one in October. There’s actually a lengthy consideration and deliberation process involved and, I’ve read, often heated arguments between committee members over different nominees.

Not so this time: The Nobel Committee announcement said the choice of Obama was unanimous.

That didn’t stop Foxtails commenting on De Seno’s posting from acting like idiots. Here are a handful of the hundreds of comments written, without fixing spelling, punctuation or grammar:

Martmann, North Carolina: i have a funny inkling that acorn is behind this travesty by the nobel prize committie acorn acorn acorn thats what they do for there former lawyer and teacher at there institution.

Kathykwny New York: Obama’s arrogance will know no bounds now that he has this bogus honor. (He) would rather see us marginalized and subservient to dictators around the world. Congratulations, Mr. President! You have finally done it!

Wooptyone Wisconsin: “Way to go Ole and Lena…

Truthproject Colorado: Kudos to Fox Network for Not pandering to this administration. The Nobel committee has proven once again that they can not discern egos from ethics. I am glad that Mr. Obama is not my savior.

thom1 Pennsylvania: Is he the first person from Kenya to win this? just wondering?

I’m not sure how Fox friend “martmann” manages to wrangle his mind in enough different directions until it links ACORN and the Nobel Peace Prize but he’s convinced of it enough to write a comment for the entire world to see. Meanwhile, “Wooptyone” is busy making derogatory comments about Norwegians and “atyube439” is revelling in his anti-Semitism.

I don’t know whether this is sad or scary.

I do know that when a sitting American president is named a Nobel laureate – including Obama, only Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson have been so honored while still in office – it is a cause for rejoicing not just in the US but in the world. It also puts tremendous pressure on President Obama to live up to the high standards and expectations the world has set for him.

Finding a near-term way out of Afghanistan would be a good place to start.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the LA Progressive, its publisher, editor or any of its other contributors.

About Charley James

If you are born in Milwaukee, chances are you're born a Democrat. So, I gravitated naturally to liberal politics as an activist and a journalist. I've been writing since I was eight and, after working in newsrooms for far too long, I have devoted much of the past decade as an independent investigtative jouralist. For much of the past year, I've been writing about homelessness - America's immorality play.

A Peace Prize? For what? Still fighting in the Middle East? When will you lefty-tards figure out that B Hussein Obama is ruining our flag and all it stands for???? This crap by “Charley James” is just one more bit of Communist idolitry of a man who isn’t legally able to be prez. God will destroy ALL OF YOU!

ALL OF THE SUDDEN EVERYONE IS AN EXPERT ON THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE COMMITTEE’S AGENDA. YOU DON’T “EARN” A PEACE PRIZE. IT IS AWARDED ON THE THE IMPACT THE INDIVIDUAL HAS MADE ON THE WORLD MOVEMENT TOWARDS PEACE. WE WHO KNOW BARACK OBAMA, CAN SEE BY HIS MINDSET THAT HE IS A PEACEMAKER AND NOT A WAR HAWK.

MID-EAST POLICY? FROM WHOSE PERSPECTIVE? I CERTAINLY HOPE THAT NO SOPHISTICATED, WELL READ, INTELLIGENT, KNOWLEDGEABLE, PERSON WITH WISDOM ABOUT HUMAN PERSONALITIES EXPECTED THE PRESIDENT TO TELL HIS CABINET SPECIFICALLY HIS DEFENSE CHIEF AND HIS GENERALS..OH BY THE WAY AH..PULL THE TROOPS OUT WILL YA? OH BROTHER..COME ON.

THE WORLD LOVES HIM AND THAT’S THAT. CASE CLOSED.YAWN. WHY DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO BRING THE OBVIOUS TO THE FORE? AMERICANS SHOULD BE DAMN PROUD. IF YOU ARE NOT, THEN NO AMOUNT OF EXPLANATION WILL SUFFICE . HE IS THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF. ALL SOLDIERS HAVE TO OBEY. I MEAN, AHEM.. ALL REAL SOLDIERS.

TO BILL CURRY, AM WITH YOU BROTHER. EVIDENTLY YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE WHO READS AND PAYS CRITICAL ATTENTION.

I think the Nobel Peace Prize was, however well intentioned, perhaps a little premature. But I don’t think it merits the foaming at the mouth on the right yet, as that Florida Congressman said, Obama could say the sun rises in the east and the GOP would call him a liar.

I have enormous faith in Obama. I don’t agree with a lot of what he’s done (or not done) but he has behaved exactly as he promised. To take a different path. To think first and reflect intelligently. Everyone on the left saw what they wanted to see in his candidacy and now that the sausage-making of governance has kicked in, they are unhappy. He promised to do things differently (eg bipartisanship) and was faced with more labors than Hercules could ever tackle. It may not work but he’s put his money (political capital) where his mouth was. Give him a chance.

@ Gloria – Investigate the Nobel Committee? Since when is an action by an independent body established by the Norwegian Parliament is any damn concern of the US.

UPDATE – Sunday Morning – Three days later, the right is still fuming about the prize.

Over at RedState, everything posted since Friday has been about the award – the lone exception being a piece applauding the lunatic Congressman who went to Honduras to conduct his own foreign policy. Needless to say, The Washington Times is still foaming at the mouth.

And the left is acting just as apeshit because he didn’t pull all of the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan by breakfast the morning after he was inaugurated – so much so that Michael Moore sent an e-mail this morning suggesting everyone cool it.

THOSE OF US WHO ARE BELIEVERS IN GOD AND HIS WISDOM WILL CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA…THAT HIS ENEMIES CANNOT RISE AGAINST HIM. SO MUCH FOR THE COMMENTS SUCH AS HE “F’d” UP THE OLYMPICS…WELL, GOD HAD TO DELIVER SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY AS HE ALWAYS DOES…HE MAY BE LATE…BUT HE IS ON TIME! WE WHO FEEL THE PAIN FOR EVERY LIE, EVERY MISQUOTE, EVERY TWISTING OF HIS INTENT…HAVE A MOMENT OF REPRIEVE ONLY TO GET READY FOR THE NEXT ONSLAUGHT. THANK YOU GOD! UNIVERSE, JEHOVAH, THE CREATOR…

Sorry, Gloria, but I – like most of the world – think the choice was inspired!

What people here in North America don’t seem to understand is that sometimes small positive actions with big ideas behind them are worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.

President Obama made a very important speech in April in Prague – after he’d been nominated, for the prize, yes, but well before the award and it probably played a big role – to an international audience about his vision for a nuclear weapons free world. For a leader of the United States to express so well and so clearly a way forward to a totally changed planet was astonishing – and of course it got almost no coverage (I saw one three paragraph bit on CNN) here in Canada or the USA because such sentiments seem so unimportant – why would most North Americans care about nukes??

Add to the President’s massive refocus of US policy on things like Climate Change and finding ways to end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in bringing peace to the mid-East and you’ve got your ideal candidate for a peace prize as the world now sees that a US President actually cares about world peace. Now that’s change!

I do not know who the person who wrote this tale, but he did not contact me to ask if I was overjoyed at hearing this news. This person (B.O.)is about as worthy of the prize as Al Gore was. All I’m saying is I belong in the grouping you listed as Fox News and Taliban. You should probaqbly check with a number of others on this subject. The prize committee should also be investigated.

LGBT Rights

Irene Monroe: Long before June officially became Gay Pride Month, and October “Coming Out Month” for the LGBTQ community, Halloween was unofficially our yearly celebrated “holiday,” dating as far back at the 1970s when it was a massive annual street party in San Francisco’s Castro district.

The Middle East

Richard Greeman: Anti-government demonstrations spread across Morocco after social media spread the story of Mousine Fikri, a fishmonger crushed to death inside a garbage truck as he tried to block the destruction of a truckload of his fish confiscated by police.